Saturday, December 1, 2012

Sepia Saturday 154 ~ On The Road Again

Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs. ﻿Today’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt (at end of post) shows a precarious looking wooden bridge over a river. There are a few people daring to stand and/or sit on that rickety-looking bridge.The two photos of bridges I’m sharing with you today aren’t made out of wood and don’t appear to be rickety.

My regular readers may remember that my Grandpa Debs Webster and his family immigrated to the United States from Brazil in 1952. In the last installment of their immigration story, I shared my uncle’s memories of seeing some curious contraptions used as early air conditioners for cars at that time. I also found photos of these devices. For those who missed this post, you can read it HERE.Well, just a short three years after my Grandpa Debs Webster and his family settled in the United States, he and his wife Willis were on the road again. This time they traveled down to Mexico. Debs’ only surviving sibling, Carlota, lived in Mexico City. The photo below shows Willis, Debs, and Carlota on what appears to be a bridge or roadway near or over water.

Mexico City

L to R - Willis Webster, Debs Webster,

Carlota Webster Guerrero

Here’s a close-up view of the happy trio.

Mexico City

L to R - Willis Webster, Debs Webster,

Carlota Webster Guerrero

While Debs and Willis were in Mexico, they traveled down to Chiapas to visit relatives there. They must have purchased this postcard while on this visit.

Dr. Belisario Dominguez Bridge

at Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico

Vintage Postcard

Upon closer examination of this vintage postcard, I noticed that I could read the sign on the top of the bridge. Here’s a close-up view.

The sign reads as follows -

1913 Puente 1931

Dr. Belisario Dominguez

Puente means bridge in English. So, this bridge must have been dedicated to Dr. Belisario Dominguez. I wondered who this doctor was so I did a little research. He was a Mexican physician who was born in Chiapas in 1863 and was murdered in Mexico City in 1913.

He served as a Senator from Chiapas during the Mexican Revolution and was killed because of a political speech he wrote following Victoriano Huerta’s coup d'état . Today, the Mexican Government awards the “Order of the Belisario Dominguez Medal of Honor” to eminent Mexican citizens who meet the criteria for this award.

Here's another close-up view from the vintage postcard. This time, I chose to focus on the car on the bridge. I thought I'd share this with you just because it's fun to see this old vintage car.

My Grandpa Debs and Grandma Willis took lots of photos and purchased several postcards while on their trip to Mexico in 1955. And I’m looking forward to sharing more of these with you in the future.To see what other Sepia Saturday participants have written about, whether it be rickety bridges, water, vintage postcards and cars, or anything else for that matter, just click HERE.

Yes, grandpa did lead quite the interesting life. It's too bad he didn't talk that much about his past. I wish he had. I have so many questions now. Of course, maybe he WAS talking about his past with my mom and other relatives when they were speaking Portuguese. If that was the case, I wouldn't know, because unfortunately, I never learned Portuguese.

That is a very charming trio on that bridge in Mexico, Jana. They look very happy. I also note that political murders seem to be a long standing tradition there. Oh, and I share your interest in vintage cars. I'll come back to that subject shortly.

Yes, those three do look so happy don't they? I'm assuming that this was the first time my Grandpa Debs had seen his sister in a very long time. So it must have been a joyous reunion.

I have to admit that I don't have an interest, per se, in vintage cars. Like, I don't go to car shows or anything. But seeing these older cars in photographs and vintage postcards from my ancestors' time can be quite interesting to me.

The park they're in I think is probably Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. It's where Maximilian's castle was and what a coincidence. His wife's name was Carlota. Do you think that's why they had their photo taken there? Nancy

Apart from the trio in Mexico City (where I once led training courses) it's the surroundings of the Tuxtla bridge that interested me. You can see the dip (inclination) in the rock strata on the river side quite clearly.

Ah! Yes, I see what you are talking about with the rock strata along the shore. I've seen that very thing along a part of the California Coastline during visits there. I was fascinated by these rock formations when I saw them in person along the coast.

Grandpa Debs was quite a traveler! I like his merry smile in the photo. Dr. Dominguez (I notice the Portuguese spelling) sounds like a political hero, making a principled speech in the face of a coup d'etat. We need more such heroes. I'm always amazed at the mileage you can get out of photo close-ups. Very interesting.

Wonderful photos of them and the trip. It was not common back then to take the photos or to keep these. The postcards will add a lot too. You are fortunate to have the "travelogue." Interesting research about Puente too